sábado, 11 de dezembro de 2010

Closing in on Gravitional Waves

Dec 10, 2010 
Analysis by Jennifer Ouellette  



For as long as man has looked at the sky, we have relied on electromagnetism to probe our universe, gradually expanding from visible light into other areas of the spectrum: infrared, microwave, x-ray, gamma ray, and so forth. But certain things aren't detectable using conventional methods: black holes, for instance, or cold dark matter. Now gravity provides an exciting new tool with which to probe the universe.

Move a large mass very suddenly -- or have two massive objects suddenly collide, or a supernova explode -- and you would create ripples in spacetime, much like tossing a stone in a still pond.


These waves were first predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity in 1916. At the time, we didn't have the technology to detect them, since they are very weak and fade very quickly, although scientists found indirect evidence of their existence in observations of a binary pulsar -- work that won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1993. But now we have the technology, and these gravitational waves should be detectable with very sensitive instruments -- if scientists had a good idea where to look.

Working with his thesis advisor, an undergraduate astrophysics major at University of California, Santa Cruz named Luke Zoltan Kelley has completed a study that should tell astrophysicists where such mergers are mostly likely to occur.

The details were just published in the December 10 issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters.
One of the best possible sources for gravitational waves would be a merger between compact binary neutron stars. A neutron star is the remnant of a supernova explosion, packing a large amount of mass in such a small space that it is incredibly dense: imagine all of the sun's mass crammed into a sphere just a few miles wide. Two such stars rotating around each other would form a binary system, getting closer and closer until they merged in a violent explosion.

That collision would produce ripples of gravitational waves that should be detectable by a a gravitational wave detector -- namely, the upgraded Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory (LIGO), which has been searching space for gravity waves since it opened in 2002, and is due for an upgrade to further increase its sensitivity. LIGO -- pictured below -- is a joint project between scientists at MIT, Caltech, and many other colleges and universities.
Summary02

How do you make a giant interferometer that can pick up tiny ripples in spacetime? You take one very large mirror and hang it to form an arm, then hang two more mirrors perpendicular to it to form an L-shape. Viewed from above, the two arms form an L shape.
Then you send laser light through a beam splitter to divide the beam between the two arms, and let the light bounce back and forth a few times before returning to the beam splitter. LIGO actually has three such detectors, two in Richland, Washington and one near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, since LlGO needs to operate at least two detectors at the same time as a control, so they don't get false positives.

How will the detectors know if a ripple of gravity passes through the Earth? Per Caltech's official LIGO Website:
If the two arms have identical lengths, then interference between the light beams returning to the beam splitter will direct all of the light back toward the laser. But if there is any difference between the lengths of the two arms, some light will travel to where it can be recorded by a photodetector. The space-time ripples cause the distance measured by a light beam to change as the gravitational wave passes by, and the amount of light falling on the photodetector to vary. The photodetector then produces a signal defining how the light falling on it changes over time. The laser interferometer is like a microphone that converts gravitational waves into electrical signals.
But space is very large, and if LIGO scientists could pinpoint their search, they might detect those ripples sooner. Also, should they detect them, they will need to match that data with telescope observations of the merger event to confirm.


This is where Kelley's recent work can help: his findings suggest that the galaxy catalogs currently proposed as a means of following up on potential gravity wave detections need to account for some unusual behavior if they're to be useful for confirmation. And the scientists might want to look beyond the nearest galaxies.

See, compact binary systems -- pairs of neutron stars, black holes, or one of each -- don't just spiral around each other, they are also speeding through space.

"By the time the two objects merge, they are likely to be located far away from the galaxy where they were born," Kelley said in a press release announcing his results. That's because they get a sort of recoil "kick" from slight asymmetries in their parent supernova explosions -- in the case of a compact binary system, the maximum velocity would reach 200 kilometers per second. That means when the two stars finally get around to merging, they could be far away from the galaxy of their birth -- good news, as it happens, for optical confirmation.


Kelly and his advisory, Enrico Ramirex-Ruiz, ran multiple computer simulations to investigate how different kick velocities would affect where compact binaries were likely to merge. After running their model for a simulated 13.8 billion years (the current age of our universe), he found that variations in the kick velocity definitely affects how such systems are distributed.

Also, he concluded that a large survey telescope would be more likely to observe such a merger if it looked for such events away from a galaxy's bright light. This in turn would give LIGO scientists an extra clue as to where to search their data for a gravity wave signal.

Kelley and his UCSC colleagues are now trying to determine what such an optical signal might look like. It's quite impressive work for someone who hasn't even finished college yet. The USCS release reveals that as Kelley completes his senior thesis, he is also teaching an astrophysics class "and deciding where he will go to graduate school." I'm guessing he'll have a lot of options.

Leading image: Visualization of the production of gravitational waves after a black hole merger (MPI for Gravitational Physics/W.Benger-ZIB)


Source: http://news.discovery.com

Já Ouviu Falar em Ração Humana?

Posted by Mundo Verde on 26 de novembro de 2010


O nome pode parecer pouco comum, mas a ração humana consiste em uma mistura de cereais integrais que não foram submetidos ao processo de refinamento, não tendo alteração em sua estrutura.

São consideradas fonte de fibras, vitaminas e minerais e atuam causando a sensação de saciedade, já que as fibras ao entrarem em contato com líquido no interior do estômago formam uma espécie de “gel” que ocupa espaço, auxiliando na redução do apetite.

Este tipo de produto pode auxiliar no processo de emagrecimento, quando associado à reeducação alimentar e à prática regular e orientada de atividade física.

A ração humana pode auxiliar o processo de emagrecimento

A ração humana pode auxiliar o processo de emagrecimento

Existem variações na composição da ração humana, mas seus principais ingredientes são:
  • Aveia em flocos
  • Linhaça marrom
  • Gérmem de trigo
  • Açúcar mascavo
  • Gergelim com casca
  • Fibra de trigo
  • Gelatina
  • Cacau
  • Levedo de cerveja
  • Guaraná em pó
  • Extrato de soja em pó
Para saber mais sobre cada um dos ingredientes, acesse o site da Rede Mundo Verde.  E se você não souber onde encontrar a ração humana, visite uma de nossas lojas. Já são mais de 165 em todo o país, inclusive em Manaus. Viva saudável com a Mundo Verde.


Source: http://mundoverde.com.br

WikiLeaks Exposes Pfizer's Corruption

10 December 2010
by Heidi Stevenson

 

Pfizer is revealed to have blackmailed Nigeria's attorney general to get two lawsuits dropped. The suits were for harm done to children treated as unwitting guinea pigs in an unauthorized trial.

In 1996, during the worst pneumonia and meningitis epidemic Africa has ever known, Pfizer flew in a team to do a drug trial on children. They didn't ask for permission. They didn't tell the children or their parents what they were doing. They just did it. They picked some for one drug and they picked others for another drug. They picked them indiscriminately.

The Pfizer team went to a hospital in Kano, Nigeria, where Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) were working furiously to help people in a chaotic situation. They simply set up their operation to compare their new drug, Trovan, against the most commonly-used one of the time, ceftriaxone. According to The Guardian, Mustapha Maisikeli, who now chairs the Trovan Victims Fund, said that when his children fell ill:
I learned they were sick, and people suggested it could be meningitis. Anyone who sees his child with a fever rushes to the infectious diseases hospital. There was a queue and they selected from there. It was, 'You, follow me'. We were gathered in a camp into two groups: MSF and Pfizer...It just so happened my children fell within Pfizer.
His daughters left the hospital after three days, but they died four months later. He blames Pfizer, because he believes that meningitis usually kills quickly.

Parents and other relatives of children who died have tried to sue Pfizer, but with mixed success. There is one trial ongoing on the US, but two others have failed there. They also sued in Nigeria. Two cases brought in Kano, one criminal and one civil, were settled out of court in October 2009 for $75 million, $35 million for the families and $40 million for attorneys and the government. Two other suits brought by the Nigerian government were mysteriously dropped at about the same time. No explanation was ever given.

One of the WikiLeaks cables has resolved the mystery. Pfizer didn't want to pay. So, they investigated the Attorney General, Michael Aondoakaa, who had the power to drop the cases. They found a great deal of corruption, and went to a local paper with a small part of it. The paper published it. Pfizer's Country Manager, Enrico Liggeri, warned Aondoakaa that there'd be more and worse revelations. The lawsuits were dropped.

The WikiLeaks-released cable then goes on to state that Liggeri insisted that the lawsuits were political in nature because the "NGO Doctors Without Borders administered Trovan to other children during the 1996 meningitis epidemic and the Nigerian government has taken no action." The embassy cable then goes on to state, "He underscored that the suit has had a 'chilling effect' on international pharmaceutical companies because companies are no longer willing to conduct clinical testing in Nigeria. Liggeri opined that when another outbreak occurs no company will come to Nigeria's aid."

It's an interesting claim, since Pfizer never provided Trovan to Nigeria after the illegal and immoral trial they conducted in 1996. The company jumped in when there was an ongoing disaster, used children for their own purposes, and left as soon as they had what they wanted.
In any case, the people of Nigeria are probably better off without Pfizer's dubious assistance. 
The drug they tested, Trovan, was later found to be highly toxic to the liver, causing at least six deaths. It seems that Mustapha Maisikeli's belief that his daughters died because of the Pfizer-administered drug may be valid.
 
Click here to read the text of the referenced WikiLeaks cable. 
 
 

Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

Augustus 9, 2010
by John Cloud


As I write this, tomorrow is Tuesday, which is a cardio day. I'll spend five minutes warming up on the VersaClimber, a towering machine that requires you to move your arms and legs simultaneously. Then I'll do 30 minutes on a stair mill. 

On Wednesday a personal trainer will work me like a farm animal for an hour, sometimes to the point that I am dizzy — an abuse for which I pay as much as I spend on groceries in a week. Thursday is "body wedge" class, which involves another exercise contraption, this one a large foam wedge from which I will push myself up in various hateful ways for an hour. Friday will bring a 5.5-mile run, the extra half-mile my grueling expiation of any gastronomical indulgences during the week. 

I have exercised like this — obsessively, a bit grimly — for years, but recently I began to wonder: Why am I doing this? Except for a two-year period at the end of an unhappy relationship — a period when I self-medicated with lots of Italian desserts — I have never been overweight. One of the most widely accepted, commonly repeated assumptions in our culture is that if you exercise, you will lose weight. But I exercise all the time, and since I ended that relationship and cut most of those desserts, my weight has returned to the same 163 lb. it has been most of my adult life. I still have gut fat that hangs over my belt when I sit. 

Why isn't all the exercise wiping it out? (Read "The Year in Medicine 2008: From A to Z.")
It's a question many of us could ask. More than 45 million Americans now belong to a health club, up from 23 million in 1993. We spend some $19 billion a year on gym memberships. Of course, some people join and never go. Still, as one major study — the Minnesota Heart Survey — found, more of us at least say we exercise regularly. The survey ran from 1980, when only 47% of respondents said they engaged in regular exercise, to 2000, when the figure had grown to 57%.

And yet obesity figures have risen dramatically in the same period: a third of Americans are obese, and another third count as overweight by the Federal Government's definition. Yes, it's entirely possible that those of us who regularly go to the gym would weigh even more if we exercised less. But like many other people, I get hungry after I exercise, so I often eat more on the days I work out than on the days I don't. Could exercise actually be keeping me from losing weight? (Watch TIME's video "How to Lose Hundreds of Pounds.")

The conventional wisdom that exercise is essential for shedding pounds is actually fairly new. As recently as the 1960s, doctors routinely advised against rigorous exercise, particularly for older adults who could injure themselves. Today doctors encourage even their oldest patients to exercise, which is sound advice for many reasons: People who regularly exercise are at significantly lower risk for all manner of diseases — those of the heart in particular. They less often develop cancer, diabetes and many other illnesses. But the past few years of obesity research show that the role of exercise in weight loss has been wildly overstated. (Read "Losing Weight: Can Exercise Trump Genes?")

"In general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless," says Eric Ravussin, chair in diabetes and metabolism at Louisiana State University and a prominent exercise researcher. Many recent studies have found that exercise isn't as important in helping people lose weight as you hear so regularly in gym advertisements or on shows like The Biggest Loser — or, for that matter, from magazines like this one.

The basic problem is that while it's true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits we just accrued. Exercise, in other words, isn't necessarily helping us lose weight. It may even be making it harder.
The Compensation Problem
 
Earlier this year, the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE — PLoS is the nonprofit Public Library of Science — published a remarkable study supervised by a colleague of Ravussin's, Dr. Timothy Church, who holds the rather grand title of chair in health wisdom at LSU. Church's team randomly assigned into four groups 464 overweight women who didn't regularly exercise. Women in three of the groups were asked to work out with a personal trainer for 72 min., 136 min., and 194 min. per week, respectively, for six months. Women in the fourth cluster, the control group, were told to maintain their usual physical-activity routines. All the women were asked not to change their dietary habits and to fill out monthly medical-symptom questionnaires.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857,00.html#ixzz17pzL3Dcq
Source: http://www.time.com

A Letter from Anonymous: Our Message, Our Intentions, and Potential Targets (Hackers for Freedom - Wikileaks)

December 2010


“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”
~George Orwell


"You may think your actions are meaningless and that they won't help, but that is no excuse, you must still act."
~ Mahatma Gandhi

"He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither"
~ Ben Franklin



Hello World. We are Anonymous. What you do or do not know about us is irrelevant. We have decided to write to you, the media, and all citizens of the free world to inform you of our intentions, potential targets, and our ongoing peaceful campaign for Freedom of Expression. 

Anonymous is peacefully campaigning for Freedom of Expression everywhere, in all forms, for all platforms.

The recent news of our efforts have been, at best, misinformed. We are not a terrorist organization or a group of "hackers" as governments, demagogues, and the media would have you believe. We are a diverse group that touches every aspect of philosophy, religion, and politics ever conceived by man. At this time, Anonymous, as a distributed consciousness, is focused on protesting peacefully for Freedom of Expression on the Internet. We ask the world to support us, not for our sake, but for your own. When governments control information they control you. We will resist until our dying breath. Pay attention citizens and governments of the world.

History is full of examples that show that governments can change when people stand united.
 

As an example in recent history: During the Civil Rights Movement in the United States in the 1960s access to many businesses were blocked as a peaceful protest against segregation. 

In their efforts, the protesters of the time managed to make drastic changes to police and governments by refusing to be silenced.

In the spirit and memory of that movement and many others we will refuse to be silenced. We will protest!
 
It is here that we proclaim: Any individual, organization, corporation, and/or government entity which supports Freedom of Speech and a Free Internet is an ally of Anonymous. If you work to suppress Freedom of Expression and a Free Internet your efforts will be halted. 

Where others have made this promise and failed, we make this promise and aim to keep it for everyone. We would like to ask that you as a citizen, organization, media entity, or government do the same by joining us.

Signed,
Anonymous


Source: http://dump.no

The Great White Brotherhood in Peru and the Serpent from Venus

December 2010


Did you know that the founders of the Great White Brotherhood came form Venus and that many of the branches of the GWB around the planet were founded by spiritual adepts associated with the serpent?
 
I came to that startling realization some years ago during a journey to Peru.

In Peru I had the good fortune to meet a Peruvian wise man, Anton Ponce de Leon Paiva and become initiated into his esoteric organization, the Brotherhood of the Sun, an Andean branch of the Great White Brotherhood. Anton was asked to found this organization by sages or Elders living in a hidden village within the Andes.
 
Sister Thedra and Anton Ponce de Leon
The Elders are direct descendants of the Incas and high priests of the Incan Empire and have lived in the secret village since the downfall of that illustrious civilization. Anton's blind-folded journey to the hidden village and the Elders he encountered there is recounted in his books The Wisdom of the Ancient ONE and In Search of the Wise ONE.

Once at the hidden village, Anton was initiated into the Intic Churincuna, the Solar Brotherhood, which had existed since the time of Lemuria, the legendary continent of the Pacific, which is now mostly at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
 
The Solar Brotherhood was the first manifestation of the "Great White Brotherhood" on Earth (you will find that all ancient civilizations were Sun worshippers and that the early adepts established headquarters associated with the Sun, such as Heliopolis in Egypt).
 
The Solar Brotherhood was first brought to Earth from Venus by adepts known as the Kumaras, a name which has the meaning of "androgenous Serpents." You can find references to the Kumaras in the Hindu Puranas where they are described as being the first teachers of Yoga on the planet.
 
Current branches of the Great White Brotherhood throughout the globe, such as the Theosophists and the Summit Lighthouse, refer to the Kumaras as their beloved founders. These organizations also claim that one Kumara, Sanat Kumara, has remained on Earth for thousands of years to oversee the workings of the GWB from Shamballa, his headquarters in the Gobi Desert.

During his week-long stay at the hidden village, Anton learned from the Elders that the Intic Churincuna was brought to the Andes by a Lemurian sage called Aramu or Amaru (the Serpent), Muru.
 
Apparently there had been a special convocation on Lemuria just before the continent's fabled destruction and Aramu Muru and other "Serpents" were elected to take the records and power objects of the Kumara/Solar Brotherhood to various parts of the world.
 
Those who later became the Nagas (Serpents in Sanscrit) in India, the Lung Dragons of China, and the Amarus in Peru, were elected to take the ancient wisdom to their respective countries. Later, a similar convocation would occur on Atlantis with certain serpent masters of that land chosen to take the Atlantean records and teachings to the pan-Atlantic territories.
 
These missionary Serpents became known as:
  • the Quetzlcoatls or Kukulcans in Mexico
  • the Djedhi (the "Stable Serpents") of Egypt
  • the Druid Adders of Britain
  • the Dactyloi of Greece
It is interesting to note that wherever the Lemurian or Atlantean serpents established branches of the GWB they built temples aligned with Venus and the planet itself became associated with saviors and immortals.
 
The immortal Osiris of Egypt, the savior Queztlcoatl of Mexico, and the World Teacher Jesus Christ, were intimately associated with Venus.

When Aramu Muru finally arrived in the Andes, he established both the Solar Brotherhood, as well as the Brotherhood of the Seven Rays, thereby grounding the infinite light of the Solar Spirit in his new land.
 
The headquarters of the Brotherhood of the Seven Rays became A hidden monastery in the Andes, the Monastery of the Seven Rays, was built as the heaquarters of the Brotherhood of the Seven Rays and served as both a storehouse for Lemurian power objects and as a school for the dispensation of the sacred Lemurian teachings. 
 
In recent times proof of the existence of the Monastery of the Seven Rays has come from a small group who traveled to the monastery in the 1960s. George Hunt Williamson (Brother Philip), author of Secret of the Andes, later interviewed the members of this party to write his book about the abbey.
 
One women of the group, Sister Thedra, spent five years at the abbey undergoing intensive spiritual training and initiations.
 
She had been sent there by Jesus Christ who had physically appeared to her and spontaneously cured her of cancer. He introduced himself to her by his true, esoteric name, "Sananda Kumara," thereby revealing his affiliation with the Venusian founders of the Great White and Solar Brotherhoods.
 
When Thedra eventually left Peru, she traveled to Mt. Shasta in California and founded the Association of Sananda and Sanat Kumara. Through the work of Sister Thedra (animation left) and her organization the Kumaras have disseminated information concerning their history and the coming Earth changes.

But back to the story... Eventually Aramu Muru became the first priest king of the Incas and was thereafter known among his adopted people as Manco Kapac. Ka-pac means "spiritually wealthy" or "Serpent Wisdom" (many of the great Serpents of the GWB have denoted their serpent wisdom by including the K sound in their names, such as Kumara, Christ (pronounced Krist), Krishna, Kukulcan).
 
Following his coronation, Manco Kapac took one of the power objects stored within the Monastery of the Seven Rays, the great Solar Disc, and hung it within the main temple of the Incas, the Intiwasi, which was built in Cuzco, Peru.
 
This Solar Disc had previously hung within an important temple of the Solar Brotherhood on Lemuria and was an important symbol of the organization. By hanging it within the Intiwasi, Manco officially established the Solar Brotherhood in Peru. Later, when the Spanish invaded Peru, the Solar Disc was returned to the Monastery of the Seven Rays for safekeeping.

Before and after building the city of Cusco, capital of the Incan Empire, Manco Kapac and the Kapac Cuna, members of the Solar Brotherhood from Lemuria who arrived in the Andes at about the same time Aramu did, built many megalithic temples in Peru, such as those at Tiahuanaco, Sacsayhuaman, Ollantaytambo, and Machu Picchu. These became contact points for visiting Venusians and members of the Solar and Great White Brotherhoods on Earth.

The wisdom of the Solar Brotherhood was eventually passed down through the lineages of Inca priest kings and high priests of Peru. Throughout their history, the Incan kings were always associated with the serpent and wore bracelets and anklets of slithering serpents to reveal their affiliation. Some monarchs included the Quechuan name for serpent, Amaru, within their royal titles, such as the Inca Tupac Amaru.

Before the complete destruction of the Incas by the Spanish, the high priests of the Incan Solar Brotherhood escaped to a hidden village in the Andes where they carefully preserved the wisdom of their ancient organization. For many years this wisdom was kept secret until Anton was invited to visit.
 
He was instructed to take the history and teachings of the Solar Brotherhood into the outer world and found an extension or "outer retreat" of the organization.
 
This outer retreat, now known as Samana Wasi, became located in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It is both the headquarters of the Brotherhood of the Sun as well as a home for abandoned children and old people.

Currently the Elders of the hidden village are in close contact with many of the planetary and galactic brotherhoods on Earth and throughout the universe. 



Source: http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net

Seeking Yur Soulmate is a Waste of Time

December 7, 2010


Are you looking for the ONE?
Stop waiting. You are the one.

There are hundreds of books out there claiming to teach you how to ATTRACT your soulmate, not to mention a zillion techniques.
I don’t believe that your soulmate is something you ATTRACT, rather is something that you ARE. Your soulmate is simply an expression of your Self. As you connect more with your soul, that perfect mate will come to you as a mirror manifestation of who and what you are. It is not about finding your soulmate, but removing the barriers, illusions and blocks to the realization of yourself as Love.

BE your SOULMATE. Your own soul is your ultimate mate. Your soul is the source of your true fulfillment. As you recognize who you are, you realize a deeper dimension of your innate wholeness. Out of this wholeness the outer manifestation of your soulmate happens.

As you cultivate this relationship with yourself, and see the truth of your being. A deep intimacy opens up. A deep communion with everything. The feelings of aloneness dissolve as you realize that you are “all one” with all things and that you are profoundly connected with everyone. At the deepest level everything and everyone is your soul mate. There is only “The One.” All of life is the One Source manifesting as a multiplicity of form. From this place of wholeness you are no longer seeking to get something. You are complete. You know that you are Love itself.

When you drop your search for the one, you will find what has never been lost: You. As you give up waiting Love blossoms more fully and comes alive in your heart. You become Love alive. This is the most attractive quality. This energy is palpable and felt by those around you.

If you have ever or are currently debating in your mind “Is this person the ONE?”

Ultimately, they are “the one” that is in front of you right now. They are the one that is inviting you into a deeper possibility of loving. The person in your life right now is giving you the opportunity to open your heart more fully, heal more deeply, and love more freely. 

Regardless of whether you are with them for a week, a month, a year or a lifetime.

Rather than looking for the one, Be the ONE. Be the one that loves each moment fully. Love each moment like your dear lover. Love this very moment as if it were your soulmate.

If in the aftermath of a relationship, you feel heartbroken, know that even though the relationship might have ended, you dared to open your heart and love, and no one can take that away from you. By the act of loving your heart will never be the same. It will have expanded to hold a bigger capacity for love.

Because a relationship didn’t work out doesn’t mean it was a failure. The real question is  ”Did you grow?” Did you become more of who you really are? Did you learn the lessons that brought that person into your life?”

So long as you got the lesson, then the relationship was a great success.

There are no failures in Love. Only the refusal to love.

Here are some soulmate keys to remember:
  • Give up waiting: Stop waiting for some special person in order to love.
  • Be love: Begin feeling the love in your heart now, and start offering it each moment.
  • Say “Yes!” Accept and open to the possibility of your right relationship manifesting in your life.
  • Clear the way: Let go of the mental and emotional blocks within yourself that might keep your heart closed.
  • Stay open: Drop any preconceived ideas as to how your soulmate will show up in your life.
  • Let go of time: Let go of the mind and be ready at any moment. Do not limit that person showing up in your life to a certain time. Life and Love is bigger than your mind.
  • Love each moment as your lover: Love as fully as you can in each moment. Love now.
  • When you truly love, you realize that there is no other. Love is the goal, as well as the journey itself.
P.S. I would love to hear your thoughts, and if you feel that you have found your soulmate I would love to hear your short story in the comments below.

P.P.S. If you’d like to know more about my transformational coaching process, check out: www.kuteblackson.com


Do share this blog post with those you feel would enjoy!

Related 

Inner Portals: Pumayana - Luminaya - Chakras Mandalas and Sacred Geometry

december 2010


Enjoy this new journey into yourself, throughout Mandalas, Chakras, Sacred Geometry... 


Artwork by Aurélien Pumayana Floret, music by Karunesh.
www.luminaya.com - www.pumayana.com

Source: www.youtube.com

sexta-feira, 19 de novembro de 2010

Alternatieve behandelwijzen voor AD(H)D

November 2010
Door Sam Goldstein, Ph.D. Goldstein is een klinisch neuropsycholoog verbonden aan de universiteit van Utah.



De wetenschappelijke methode om behandelingen, als voor AD(H)D, op hun werkzaamheid te beoordelen kan lang en moeizaam zijn. Het proces begint met het opstellen van een hypothese of idee. Dit is vaak gebaseerd op bestaande kennis. De tweede stap is dan een protocol vast te stellen waarmee de effectiviteit van de voorgestelde behandeling kan worden vastgesteld. 

De behandeling zelf, en de manier waarop deze wordt uitgevoerd moeten zorgvuldig worden omschreven. De onderzoeker moet ook de manier aangeven waarop de effectiviteit van de behandeling zal worden geevalueerd. Er moet voor gewaakt worden dat de effecten van de behandeling niet worden verward het het placebo-effect. Het is onomstotelijk aangetoond dat mensen op elke willekeurige behandeling zullen reageren zolang ze maar geloven dat deze behandeling ze beter zal maken. Dit effect is sterker dan meestal wordt aangenomen.

De onderzoekers moeten er ook goed op letten dat iedereen die aan het onderzoek meedoet: onderzoekers en proefpersonen, niet weten of ze het werkelijke middel krijgen of het placebo. Anders kunnen de verwachtingen van beide partijen de resultaten beinvloeden. Tenslotte moeten de resultaten onderworpen worden aan de kritische beoordeling van de medische gemeenschap, gepubliceerd worden, en gereproduceerd kunnen worden door anderen.

Naast deze wetenschappelijke methode zijn er ook andere methoden die sommige behandelaars toepassen, soms om sneller resultaat te bereiken dan op bovenstaande, wetenschappelijk geaccepteerde manier. Deze weg is alleen, jammer genoeg, vol valkuilen. Op dit alternatieve pad stammen de behandelmethoden van ideeen die buiten het bereik liggen van de bestaande wetenschappelijke kennis, of net op de grens daarvan. 
 
Ze worden soms toegepast lang voordat er enig onderzoek is gedaan dat de werkzaamheid bewijst - vaak is er sprake van niet meer dan een korte, slecht uitgevoerde test met een klein aantal proefpersonen. 
 
Meetmethoden en middelen om de effectiviteit te bepalen zijn op zijn best schaars, en vaak worden resultaten bij individuele gevallen aangevoerd als bewijs dat de behandeling werkt. Behandelwijzen die op deze manier worden aangeboden worden vaak aan de man gebracht in boeken of tijdschriften die niet door deskundigen beoordeeld worden. 
 
In de praktijk worden deze publicaties vaak uitgebracht door dezelfde persoon die de behandeling wil promoten. Deze methode van zelf- publicatie zou eigenlijk al een alarmbel moeten laten rinkelen.

Het is belangrijk om zowel bij de diagnose als bij de behandeling kritisch te zijn en naar het beste op zoek te gaan. Diagnosestellingen die bestaan uit een enkele vragenlijst of een gesprek van tien minuten geeft grote kans op misdiagnose of een verkeerd beeld van eventuele bijkomende problemen. Symptomen van onoplettendheid, rusteloosheid, impulsiviteit en sociale en schoolproblemen kunnen veroorzaakt worden door veel verschillende aandoeningen. Het is noodzakelijke een grondig begrip van de problemen te hebben voordat er wordt behandeld. Een goed behandelplan volgt logisch uit een goede diagnose.

De alternatieve behandelingen claimen vaak bij een hele reeks problemen resultaat te geven. Wanneer er dan wordt gevraagd om bewijzen om deze claims te ondersteunen, kunnen de voorstanders vaak niet meer dan schaarse documentatie laten zien. Er wordt ook vaak beweerd dat men toegang heeft tot kennis en informatie die door de medische gemeenschap niet wordt gedeeld, en kritiek op hun behandelingen wordt vaak opgevat als bewijs voor een samenzwering tegen hen door de wetenschappelijke gemeenschap.

Controversiele behandelingen voor AD(H)D

Dieten / voedingsadviezen

Als een van de bekendste dieten op dit gebied, beweert het Feingold Dieet dat kinderen gevoelig zijn voor een reeks voedingsstoffen, kleurstoffen en conserveermiddelen en AD(H)D symptomen kunnen ontwikkelen als reactie op vergiftiging door deze stoffen. De afgelopen jaren hebben voorstanders van dit dieet  dramatische beweringen gedaan. Ze hebben gesteld dat voeding die vrij is van dit soort kunstmatige toevoegingen de meeste, zo niet alle, leer- en aandachtsproblemen bij kinderen kunnen verhelpen, Ze beschrijven case studies waarin kinderen de medicatie niet langer nodig hadden zolang ze op dit dieet waren. Ze rapporteren ook verbetering in schoolprestaties, en zeggen dat de gedrags- en leerproblemen terugkeren als het dieet wordt gestopt.

Hoewel dieten populair zijn, zijn er maar weinig onderzoeken die een positief resultaat melden en van deze is er bij de meeste sprake van problemen met de gehanteerde statistiek. Het gebrek aan goed uitgevoerde onderzoeken is ook een probleem bij diegenen die beweren dat er een verband is tussen allergieen en leerproblemen. Hoewel de voorstanders van deze dieten toegeven dat zorgvuldig onderzoek hard nodig is, is dit nog niet gebeurd.

Aan de andere kant heeft een groot aantal studies een verband aangetoond dat er een verband is tussen suiker en AD(H)D. Het probleem hiervan is alleen weer dat de resultaten moeilijk te interpreteren zijn. Een paar goed-opgezette onderzoeken hebben wat effecten van suiker op gedrag aangetoond maar deze effecten blijken erg klein te zijn; bovendien blijkt maar een klein percentage van kinderen met AD(H)D hievoor gevoelig.

Na zorvoldige analyse van bestaande bewijzen, hebben talloze onderzoekers geconcludeerd dat er heel beperkt bewijs is tussen dieet en leer- en gedragsproblemen - zoniet geen enkel. Natuurlijk, hebben kinderen met AD(H)D, net als alle andere kinderen, behoefte aan een gezonde, uitgebalanceerde voeding. Op dit moment is er echter geen bewijs dat dieten enig effect hebben op leer- en aandachtsproblemen.

Megavitamines and minerale voedingssupplementen

Het gebruik van hoge doses vitaminen en mineralen, inclusief de anti- oxidanten zoals vitamine A en E,  pycnogenol en ginkgo biloba, die op dit moment erg in de belangstelling staan, zijn gebaseerd op ideeen uit de orthomuleculaire psychiatrie. Volgens deze ideeen hebben sommige mensen een genetische afwijking waardoor ze een grotere behoefte hebben vitaminen en mineralen. De anti-oxidanten worden gemarket als middelen die de "vrije radicalen" - die leer- aandachts- en gedragsproblemen (en versneld ouder worden) zouden veroorzaken, uit het bloed kunnen verwijderen.

In de vroege jaren '70 is al beweerd dat kinderen met hyperactieve- en leerproblemen verbeteringen lieten zien als ze grote doses vitaminen kregen. De voorstanders van deze theorie claimen ook dat leer- en gedragsproblem worden veroorzaakt door tekorten aan mineralen als kalium, natrium en sporenelementen als zink en koper.

Hoewel het feit dat  vitaminen synomiem lijken te zijn met gezondheid is er geen wetenschappelijk bewijs dat deze supplementen enig verschil maken in de levens van kinderen met AD(H)D. Hoewel deze stoffen "natuurlijk" zijn en daarom veilig lijken, kan overdosering tot gezondheidsproblemen leiden.

Middelen tegen bewegingsziekte

Aanhangers van deze theorie beweren dar AD(H)D wordt veroorzaakt door problemen in het middenoor. Ze geloven dat er een verband is tussen AD(H)D en problemen met coordinatie en balans. Dit theoretische verband wordt verondersteld veroorzaakt te worden door een gebrek aan het binnenoor, omdat dit een grote rol speelt in balans en coordinatie. Om AD(H)D te behandelen worden een reeks medicijnen, waaronder anti-bewegingsziektemiddelen en verschillende vitaminen aanbevolen. Met deze medicijnen, zo beweren de voorstanders van deze theorie, wordt een succesration van boven re 90% behaald. Jammer genoeg zijn deze resultaten niet gepubliceerd en kunnen daarom niet geverificeerd worden.

Deze theorie is niet in overeenstemming met wat bekend is over AD/HD. 
 
Er is geen onderzoek dat enig verband suggereert tussen het middenoor en het mechanisme achter aandacht. Anatomisch en fysiologisch is er geen enkele reden om te geloven dat het binnenoor op wat voor manier dan ook is betrokken bij aandacht en impulscontrole op enig andere dan heel zijdelingse wijze. In het enige deugdelijke onderzoek wat hiernaar uitgevoerd is, onderzocht men het effect van anti- bewegingsziekte medicatie op ontwikkelingsgerelateerde leesproblemen. 
 
Er werd geen effect gevonden. Deze benadering om AD(H)D te behandelen is niet in overeenstemming met de huidige medische kennis en er is geen enkel effect aangetoond.

Candida

Candida albicans is soort gist die in het menselijk lichaam leeft. 
 
Normaal gesproken wordt het in bedwang gehouden door de afweer en vriendelijke bacterieen. Maar als het afweersysteem verzwakt is of de vriendelijke bacterieen zijn gedood door antibiotica, kan candida gaan domineren. Dit kan leiden tot infecties als candidiasis.

Sommigen geloven dat de stoffen die overheersende candida produceert het afweersysteem verder verzwakken. Dit maakt het lichaam vatbaar voor veel ziekten, inclusief AD(H)D en andere psychiatrische afwijkingen. De behandeling is erop gericht de groei van candida in het lichaam tegen te gaan. Ze promoten een dubbele aanpak van anti- candida middelen zoals nystatin en een dieet wat weinig suiker bevat. 
 
Andere aspecten van de behandeling zijn een eliminatie-dieet om voedselallergie uit te sluiten, en het gebruik van vitaminene en minerale supplementen.

Hoewel het waar is dat candida infectie kan veroorzaken, is er weinig bewijs om het idee te ondersteunen dat het ook de andere kwalen veroorzaakt die de voorstanders van deze aanpak noemen. Er is weinig bewijs dat deze aanpak ondersteunt. In plaats daarvan worden er anekdotische gegevens en getuigenissen aangeboden als bewijs dat de aanpak effectief is. Het wordt niet aangeraden voor AD(H)D.

EEG Biofeedback  (Neurofeedback)

Voorstanders van deze aanpak geloven dat mensen met AD(H)D getraind kunnen worden om een bepaalde soort hersengolven die verband houdt met aandacht sterker te maken, en de soort die te maken heeft met dagdromen en afgeleid worden, af te zwakken. Ze beweren dat ze resultaten boeken in verbetering van aandacht en afname van hyperactiviteit en impulsiviteit.

De techniek bestaat uit het meten van electrische activiteit in verschillende gebieden van de hersenen. Deze informatie wordt door een computer vertaald in een signaal: licht, geluid of om een videospel aan te sturen. Met dit signaal als feedback, wordt geleerd om bepaalde soorten hersengolven te verminderen en ander soorten de versterken (meer beta, minder theta). Volgens aanhangers van deze theorie bestaat de training uit 40 tot 80 sessies. Elke sessie duurt minimaal 40 minuten. Met twee tot drie sessie per week kan de behandeling 3 tot 10 maanden duren.

Hoewel deze behandelwijze vrij populair is geworden en er flink reclame voor wordt gemaakt, is er nog altijd maar beperkt, gepubliceerd en geverifieerd onderzoek die het ondersteunt. Hoewel er toenemende interesse is naar onderzoek op dit gebied, zijn de claims die de voorstanders maken (dramatische verbeteringen in IQ score en dramatische vermindering van AD(H)D symptomen) bijna te mooi om waar te zijn. Veel van de eerste studies die gepubliceerd zijn blijken erg gebrekkig door het kleine aantal proefpersonen met onduidelijke diagnoses. Daarnaast hebben deze studies geen gebruik gemaakt van controlegroepen om o.a. placebo-effecten uit te sluiten.

Deze technologie is niet nieuw. Hoewel sommigen geloven dat het veelbeloven is in de behandeling van AD(H)D, moet het op dit moment beschouwd worden als ten hoogste een ondersteunende behandeling. 
Vanuit onderzoeksperspectief is het effect niet bewezen. Het advies om voorzichtig te zijn, want het is een tamelijk kostbare behandeling waarvan de werkzaamheid, totdat er beter onderzoek is verricht, nog niet is aangetoond.

Andere controversiële behandelingen

Andere behandelwijzen die hier en daar worden aangeboden zijn het gebruik van toegepaste kinesiologie (het manipuleren van botten, in het bijzonder de schedel om lichaams- en hersenfuncties te verbeteren); optometrische training (oefeningen om het volgen me de ogen te verbeteren) en auditieve training (de luistervaardigheid verbeteren en het verwerken van bepaalde geluidsfrequenties verbeteren). Al deze benaderingen worden aangeboden als effectief bij AD(H)D. Er is weinig of geen bewijs dat een van deze drie ook maar enig effect heeft bij AD(H)D.

Samenvatting

Er worden behandelingen voor AD(H)D aangeboden die niet aan de wetenschappelijke eisen voldoen om in het reportoire van behandelingen opgenomen te worden. Sommigen ervan vragen om nader onderzoek. Hoewel deze behandelingen op de markt kunnen worden aangeboden als bewezen en geaccepteerd - dit is niet het geval.

Hieronder staan nog een aantal punten waaraan je twijfelachtige behandelingen kan herkennen:

- schreeuwerige en overdreven claims zijn een waarschuwing. Wees op je hoede voor elke produkt of behandeling dat wordt aangeprezen als "verbazingwekkend", "wonderbaarlijk" of "een doorbraak". Serieuze medische wetenschappers gebruikten dit soort kreten gewoon niet. En ze scheppen ook niet op over hun succes bij het behandelen van enorme aantallen patienten.

- pas op met een behandeling die claimt een hele reeks ziekten te genezen. Je gezonde verstand zegt al dat hoe overdrevener de claim is, des te onwaarschijnlijker het is dat het werkt.

- vertrouw niet op getuigenissen van mensen die zeggen dat ze door het produkt of de behandeling geholpen zijn. Enthousiasme kan bewijs niet vervangen, en serieuze behandelaars vragen geen getuigschrifen van patienten.

- wees skeptisch over claims die zeggen dat een behandeling wordt onderdrukt of onterecht aangevallen door de medische wereld. Serieuze behandelaars verwelkomen nieuwe kennis en betere behandelmethoden voor hun patienten. Ze hebben geen enkele reden om veelbelovende nieuwe methodes tegen te werken.

Met dank aan Maike Dulk voor de vertaling naar het Nederlands.


Source: http://www.addonline.nl